When people doubt your knowledge of your special interest...

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For some reason I'm crying over this... I spotted a rare swan on the river in a place they were never seen before. I described them, took a picture (abet not a very good one) and put it on Facebook and submitted the sighting... I got ripped apart by everyone saying that those swans shouldn't be there, and my sighting wasn't accepted.

A week later... A different bird watcher sees the same birds, doesn't even describe them, no picture at all and his record is automatically accepted by everyone...

Should I like point this out to soneone??? The local ebird reviewer did this to me a couple other times too on other rare birds that others spotted and when I reported I saw them too suddenly I'm not believed...

??? I mean is it especially hurtful when people attack your authority or knowledge of your interest?

In the past I have had the odd criticism on sites relating to my hobby because I approach it from an unusual angle.

I know a guy who I’m starting to suspect contradicts me on my interests just to wind me up

It’s so irritating when the joy of sharing knowledge and observations is derailed by irrelevant nonsense of any sort.
Grrrrr

You could point it out I suppose.
Just pick a sympathetic person to point it out to!

There have been co-workers who have ignored my warnings, and even tried to discredit me to push their own ideas. I usually clam up at that point and wait for the inevitable "I told you so" moment, much to their detriment.

I'm a firm believer in the "Give them enough rope and let them hang themselves" school of retribution.

I'm from the same school

And I have a friend who actually ordered a bunch of "I told you so" cards, says it saves him a lot of time. I strongly suspect anybody working in tech could use those.

My ex told me that something that had happened to me was not possible. I regularly post suggestions that would save millions of dollars, easily checked with some numbers on the back of an envelope, and get ignored every time. Maybe the funniest instance was an electrician who was insisting that the monitor I was using couldn't be on.

Did you see a Trumpeter Swan?

There are three possible swans in this area... Mute, Trumpeter and Tundra this time of year... Easiest way to tell them apart is by their bills.... They were not Mute for sure but Tundra and Trumpeter are harder to tell apart but I've seen both species for sure before and I was pretty sure they were Trumpeters.

Hey you got a new profile pic! Which bird is that?

Maybe you have a reputation of being untrustworthy in those bird circles of yours? That often happens to me; since I communicate weirdly (or something), my word isn't trusted the way someone else's would be. It's like the attitude is that if you can't handle something as simple as basic social rules, there's no way you could know more than those who can about something more complicated.

But what do you do when they deny the fact that you warned them?

Re: the birders. There may be a strong personality in the group who insists on taking credit whenever possible, and is tolerated because ostracism is worse.

People pretty much trust my knowledge about my special interests, but I have a hard time getting people to trust that I know normal, everyday things.

People tend to not want to trust my knowledge, because (it seems) they resent being wrong most of the time.

I still don’t get that: why does it matter who is right, so long as rightness is achieved, and everyone can get on with whatever on that basis.

grumble grumble, parcel of insecure little scrotes, grumble grumble

Inverting it all: ever had the one where you accept someone else was right simply and efficiently, but they won’t move on; instead insisting on carrying on trying to persuade you of what you just agreed?

Stupid pride, and possible narcissism. It does not matter to some people whether or not they are right, as long as everyone agrees with them. Take our president, for example...Dude! I'm married! Of course this has happened to me!

Yes! Don’t get why people try to medicalise him: blatantly just an insecure and not particularly bright NT.



So am I! and it does
Also get it with other people though

I particularly like having my agreement rejected because I must disagree right now to stop her having it all her own way!

I think that the records of the British Parliament show a fellow finishing his speech in favour of some bill for another forty minutes after he had been told that it had already passed. Maybe he wanted to make sure it stayed in, but more likely, he didn't want to waste his preparations. The usual bonus of feeling convincing was lost, though.